Nuclear Reactors and Plutonium Production
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Spent Nuclear Fuel Pools in the US
Spent Nuclear Fuel Pools in the U.S.: Reducing the Deadly Risks of Storage front cover WITH SUPPORT FROM: WITH SUPPORT FROM: By Robert Alvarez 1112 16th St. NW, Suite 600, Washington DC 20036 - www.ips-dc.org May 2011 About the Author Robert Alvarez, an Institute for Policy Studies senior scholar, served as a Senior Policy Advisor to the Secre- tary of Energy during the Clinton administration. Institute for Policy Studies (IPS-DC.org) is a community of public scholars and organizers linking peace, justice, and the environment in the U.S. and globally. We work with social movements to promote true democracy and challenge concentrated wealth, corporate influence, and military power. Project On Government Oversight (POGO.org) was founded in 1981 as an independent nonprofit that investigates and exposes corruption and other misconduct in order to achieve a more effective, accountable, open, and ethical federal government. Institute for Policy Studies 1112 16th St. NW, Suite 600 Washington, DC 20036 http://www.ips-dc.org © 2011 Institute for Policy Studies [email protected] For additional copies of this report, see www.ips-dc.org Table of Contents Summary ...............................................................................................................................1 Introduction ..........................................................................................................................4 Figure 1: Explosion Sequence at Reactor No. 3 ........................................................4 Figure 2: Reactor No. 3 -
The Nuclear Waste Primer September 2016 What Is Nuclear Waste?
The Nuclear Waste Primer September 2016 What is Nuclear Waste? Nuclear waste is the catch-all term for anything contaminated with radioactive material. Nuclear waste can be broadly divided into three categories: • Low-level waste (LLW), comprised of protective clothing, medical waste, and other lightly-contaminated items • Transuranic waste (TRU), comprised of long-lived isotopes heavier than uranium • High-level waste (HLW), comprised of spent nuclear fuel and other highly-radioactive materials Low-level waste is relatively short-lived and easy to handle. Currently, four locations for LLW disposal exist in the United States. Two of them, Energy Solutions in Clive, Utah and Waste Control Specialists in Andrews, Texas, accept waste from any U.S. state. Transuranic waste is often a byproduct of nuclear weapons production and contains long-lived radioactive elements heavier than uranium, like plutonium and americium. Currently, the U.S. stores TRU waste at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) near Carlsbad, New Mexico. High-level waste includes spent nuclear fuel and the most radioactive materials produced by nuclear weapons production. Yucca Mountain is the currently designated high-level waste repository for the United States. 1 | What is Spent Nuclear Fuel? Spent nuclear fuel (SNF), alternatively referred to as used nuclear fuel, is the primary byproduct of nuclear reactors. In commercial power reactors in the U.S., fuel begins as uranium oxide clad in a thin layer of zirconium-aluminum cladding. After several years inside of the reactor, around fi ve percent of the uranium has been converted in some way, ranging from short-lived and highly radioactive fi ssion products to long-lived actinides like plutonium, americium, and neptunium. -
The Making of an Atomic Bomb
(Image: Courtesy of United States Government, public domain.) INTRODUCTORY ESSAY "DESTROYER OF WORLDS": THE MAKING OF AN ATOMIC BOMB At 5:29 a.m. (MST), the world’s first atomic bomb detonated in the New Mexican desert, releasing a level of destructive power unknown in the existence of humanity. Emitting as much energy as 21,000 tons of TNT and creating a fireball that measured roughly 2,000 feet in diameter, the first successful test of an atomic bomb, known as the Trinity Test, forever changed the history of the world. The road to Trinity may have begun before the start of World War II, but the war brought the creation of atomic weaponry to fruition. The harnessing of atomic energy may have come as a result of World War II, but it also helped bring the conflict to an end. How did humanity come to construct and wield such a devastating weapon? 1 | THE MANHATTAN PROJECT Models of Fat Man and Little Boy on display at the Bradbury Science Museum. (Image: Courtesy of Los Alamos National Laboratory.) WE WAITED UNTIL THE BLAST HAD PASSED, WALKED OUT OF THE SHELTER AND THEN IT WAS ENTIRELY SOLEMN. WE KNEW THE WORLD WOULD NOT BE THE SAME. A FEW PEOPLE LAUGHED, A FEW PEOPLE CRIED. MOST PEOPLE WERE SILENT. J. ROBERT OPPENHEIMER EARLY NUCLEAR RESEARCH GERMAN DISCOVERY OF FISSION Achieving the monumental goal of splitting the nucleus The 1930s saw further development in the field. Hungarian- of an atom, known as nuclear fission, came through the German physicist Leo Szilard conceived the possibility of self- development of scientific discoveries that stretched over several sustaining nuclear fission reactions, or a nuclear chain reaction, centuries. -
CHAPTER 13 Reactor Safety Design and Safety Analysis Prepared by Dr
1 CHAPTER 13 Reactor Safety Design and Safety Analysis prepared by Dr. Victor G. Snell Summary: The chapter covers safety design and safety analysis of nuclear reactors. Topics include concepts of risk, probability tools and techniques, safety criteria, design basis accidents, risk assessment, safety analysis, safety-system design, general safety policy and principles, and future trends. It makes heavy use of case studies of actual accidents both in the text and in the exercises. Table of Contents 1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 6 1.1 Overview ............................................................................................................................. 6 1.2 Learning Outcomes............................................................................................................. 8 1.3 Risk ...................................................................................................................................... 8 1.4 Hazards from a Nuclear Power Plant ................................................................................ 10 1.5 Types of Radiation in a Nuclear Power Plant.................................................................... 12 1.6 Effects of Radiation ........................................................................................................... 12 1.7 Sources of Radiation ........................................................................................................ -
Wahlen, R. K. History of 100-B Area
WHC-EP-0273 History of 100-B Area R. K. Wahlen Date Published October 1989 Prepared for the U.S. Department of Energy Assistant Secretary for Management and Administration w Westinghouse P.O. Box 1970 0- Hanford mpany Richland, Washington &I352 Hanford Operations and Engineering Contractor for the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract DE-ACO6-87RLlOg30 WHC-EP-0273 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY In August 1939, Albert Einstein wrote a letter to President Roosevelt that informed him of the work that had been done by Enrico Fermi and L. Szilard on converting energy from the element uranium. He also informed President Roosevelt that there was strong evidence that the Germans were also working on this same development. This letter initiated a program by the United States to develop an atomic bomb. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, under the Department of Defense, was assigned the task. The program, which involved several locations in the United States, was given the code name, Manhattan Project. E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Company (Du Pont) was contracted to build and operate the reactors and chemical separations plants for the production of plutonium. On December 14, 1942, officials of Du Pont met in Wilmington, Delaware, to develop a set of criteria for the selection of a site for the reactors and separations plants. The basic criteria specified four requirements: (1) a large supply of clean water, (2) a large supply of electricity, (3) a large area with low population density, and (4) an area that would cover at least 12 by 16 mi. -
IAEA Guidelines and Formatting Rules for Papers for Proceeding
Interactive Computer Codes for Education and Training on Nuclear Safety and Radioprotection Francisco leszczynski∗ RA-6 Division, Nuclear Engineering Unit, Bariloche Atomic Center, CNEA, Av.E.Bustillo 8500, S.C.de Bariloche, RN, Argentina Abstract. Two interactive computer codes for education and training on nuclear safety and radioprotection developed at RA6 Reactor Division-Bariloche Atomic Center-CNEA are presented on this paper. The first code named SIMREACT has been developed in order to simulate the control of a research nuclear reactor in real time with a simple but accurate approach. The code solves the equations of neutron punctual kinetics with time variable reactivity. Utilizing the timer of the computer and the controls of a PC keyboard, with an adequate graphic interface, a simulation in real time of the temporal behavior of a research reactor is obtained. The reactivity can be changed by means of the extraction or insertion of control rods. It was implemented also the simulation of automatic pilot and scram. The use of this code is focalized on practices of nuclear reactor control like start-up from the subcritical state with external source up to power to a desired level, change of power level, calibration of a control rod with different methods, and approach to critical condition by interpolation of the answer in function of reactivity. The second code named LICEN has been developed in order to help the studies of all the topics included in examination programs for obtaining licenses for research reactor operators and radioprotection officials. Using the PC mouse, with an adequate graphic interface, the student can gradually learn the topics related with general and special licenses. -
Mflfihflttflfi PROJECT
MflfiHflTTflfi PROJECT U.S. DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY The Hanford Site began as part and the reactor stack are the ofthe United States Manhattan only facilities that remain. Project to research, test and build atomic weapons during World War II. Today, the U.S. Department The original 670-square mile ofEnergy (DOE) Richland Hanford Site, then known as Operations Office offers escorted the Hanford Engineer Works, public access to B Reactor along a was the last ofthree top-secret designated tour route. The National sites constructed in order to Park Service (NPS) is studying produce enriched uranium and preservation and interpretation plutonium for the world's first options for sites associated with nuclear weapons. the Manahattan Project. A draft is expected in summer 2009. A final report will recommend whether B Reactor, located about 45 the B Reactor, along with other miles northwest ofRichland, Manhattan Project facilities, should Washington, is the world's first be preserved, and ifso, what roles full-scale nuclear reactor. the DOE, the NPS and community Not only was B Reactor a first partners will play in preservation of-a-kind engineering structure, and public education. it was built and fully functional in just 11 months. Eventually, the shoreline of the Columbia River in south eastern Washington State held nine nuclear reactors at the height ofHanford's nuclear defense production during the Cold War era. The B Reactor was shut down in 1968. During the 1980's, the U.S. Department ofEnergy began removing B Reactor's support facilities. The reactor B Reactor operating in 1945 building, the river pumphouse 2 ! N 200 West 200 East Area Area _1-+....&+04.01 B Reactor today, looking west with Umtanum Ridge in the background MRNHI\TTI\N ~~~.,". -
Hanford B Reactor and Beyond
How DOE and the Tri Cities Community are Working to Redefine Hanford’s Post‐Cleanup Future Colleen French DOE Richland Operations Office Government Programs Manager Hanford • Hanford was created in 1943 as part of the top secret Manhattan Project • 586 square miles • Production of plutonium increased during Cold War (peaking between 1959‐1965) • Hanford produced 2/3 of the nation’s plutonium between 1945‐1985 • Home to the first full‐scale nuclear producon reactor ― B Reactor Complex during operations (1940s‐1960s) the B Reactor, now a National Historic Landmark 2 The Hanford Site • Fuel fabrication and irradiation in nuclear reactors along the Columbia River • Chemical separations in canyon facilities to dissolve fuel and extract plutonium in the Central Plateau • Liquid and solid wastes disposed of in Central Plateau • Eventually, 9 reactors were built and Hanford operated for defense production through 1988 3 Hanford Cleanup Overview Two Department of Energy Offices Office of River Protection • Tank Waste Richland Operations Office • River Corridor • Central Plateau Cleanup Work • Treat contaminated groundwater • Demolish facilities • Move buried waste, contaminated soil away from Columbia River • Isolate contamination from environment on Central Plateau • Treat underground tank waste Workforce • 8,500 total Department of Energy and contractor employees 4 www.em.doe.gov HANFORD SITE CLEANUP 859 waste sites BY THE NUMBERS have been remediated SIX of Hanford’s nine reactors have been “cocooned” 12K cubic meters of underground waste have been removed more reactors will be TWO cocooned in the coming years 49K visitors have toured the B Reactor percent of the site’s spent National Historic fuel has been moved to dry Landmark 100 storage 10 billion gallons of buildings have been demolished contaminated 743 groundwater have been treated 5 What are Hanford’s “Assets”? 6 Hanford Site Post 2015 Cleanup Controlled Access Vision for Access and Use to Some of the Cleaned-up River Shoreline Natural Resource Preservation 1. -
Light Water Reactor System Designed to Minimize Environmental Burden of Radioactive Waste
Hitachi Review Vol. 63 (2014), No. 9 602 Featured Articles Light Water Reactor System Designed to Minimize Environmental Burden of Radioactive Waste Tetsushi Hino, Dr. Sci. OVERVIEW: One of the problems with nuclear power generation is the Masaya Ohtsuka, Dr. Eng. accumulation in radioactive waste of the long-lived TRUs generated as Kumiaki Moriya byproducts of the fission of uranium fuel. Hitachi is developing a nuclear reactor that can burn TRU fuel and is based on a BWR design that is Masayoshi Matsuura already in use in commercial reactors. Achieving the efficient fission of TRUs requires that the spectrum of neutron energies in the nuclear reactor be modified to promote nuclear reactions by these elements. By taking advantage of one of the features of BWRs, namely that their neutron energy spectrum is more easily controlled than that of other reactor types, the new reactor combines effective use of resources with a reduction in the load on the environment by using TRUs as fuel that can be repeatedly recycled to burn these elements up. This article describes the concept behind the INTRODUCTION RBWR along with the progress of its development, NUCLEAR power generation has an important role to as well as its specifications and features. play in both energy security and reducing emissions of carbon dioxide. One of its problems, however, is the accumulation in radioactive waste from the long- RBWR CONCEPT lived transuranium elements (TRUs) generated as Plutonium Breeding Reactor byproducts of the fission of uranium fuel. The TRUs The original concept on which the RBWR is based include many different isotopes with half-lives ranging was the plutonium generation boiling water reactor from hundreds to tens of thousands of years or more. -
Safety Analysis for Boiling Water Reactors
Gesellschaft für Anlagen- und Reaktorsicherheit (GRS) mbH Safety Analysis for Boiling Water Reactors A Summary GRS - 98 Gesellschaft für Anlagen- und Reaktorsicherheit (GRS) mbH Safety Analysis for Boiling Water Reactors A Summary E. Kersting J. von Linden D. Müller-Ecker W. Werner Translation by F. Janowski July 1993 GRS - 98 ISBN 3-923875-48-7 Note This report is the translation of GRS-95 "Sicherheitsanalyse für Siedewasserreaktoren - Zusammenfassende Darstellung". Recent analysis results - concerning the chapters on accident management, fire and earthquake - that were not included in the German text have been added to this translation. In cases of doubt, GRS-102 (main volume) is the factually correct version. Keywords Safety analysis, PSA, boiling water reactor, accidents, event-sequence analysis, systems analysis, fault-tree analysis, reliability data, accident management Abstract After completing the German Risk Study for pressurised water reactors, the Gesell schaft für Anlagen- und Reaktorsicherheit (GRS) has now conducted for the first time a probabilistic safety analysis for boiling water reactors (BWR) on behalf of the Federal Minister for Research and Technology (BMFT). Reactor safety is constantly developed in line with research findings and operating experience. Thus reactor safety is a dynamic process in which safety analyses play an important role. Probabilistic safety analyses determine the frequency of certain events (e.g. leaks in pipes) and the failure probabilities of the safety systems needed to control such events. The failure of safety systems initially leads to a hazard to the cooling of the reactor core. When such hazard states occur, there are accident management measures which can still be carried out in order to prevent core melt. -
Reactor Physics Calculations in the Nordic Countries
ESPOO 2003 VTT SYMPOSIUM 230 The eleventh biennial meeting on reactor physics calculations in the Nordic VTT SYMPOSIUM 230 countries was arranged by VTT Processes in Otaniemi, Espoo and on board Tallink´s m/s Romantika on April 9–10, 2003. General reactor physics, calculational methods, a code system adapted for RBMK reactor analyses, and transmutation of nuclear waste were presented by representatives of universities and programme developers. Computer programmes are the most important tools of reactor physics. At the meeting there were presentations of VTT Processes’ new deterministic 3- dimensional radiation transport code MultiTrans and BWR simulator ARES based upon the AFEN model, and also of new features in internationally wellknown codes like CASMO-4E and POLCA (POLCA-T) together with Reactor physics calculations in the Nordic countries results obtained by these programmes. A code for PWR loading pattern search, called LP-fun, is being developed by Westinghouse and others. On the subject of code validation, measurements on SVEA-96+ fuel bundles in the PROTEUS facility had been analyzed with the PHOENIX4 code, reactor scram experiments in the Loviisa and Mochovce VVER reactors using CASMO-4, MCNP4B and HEXTRAN, results of gamma scanning by the PHOENIX4/POLCA7 combination. Some difficulties in predicting the power distribution in the reactor core with sufficiently good accuracy using any of the available code systems were reported by OKG. Heating of non-fuel regions by gamma radiation and neutrons had been investigated using the HELIOS lattice code. Calculational results for heat deposition from gamma radiation in the moderator tank of the Forsmark-1 reactor were reported by Risø. -
Ncomms9592.Pdf
ARTICLE Received 9 May 2015 | Accepted 9 Sep 2015 | Published 9 Oct 2015 DOI: 10.1038/ncomms9592 OPEN High-intensity power-resolved radiation imaging of an operational nuclear reactor Jonathan S. Beaumont1, Matthew P. Mellor2, Mario Villa3 & Malcolm J. Joyce1,4 Knowledge of the neutron distribution in a nuclear reactor is necessary to ensure the safe and efficient burnup of reactor fuel. Currently these measurements are performed by in-core systems in what are extremely hostile environments and in most reactor accident scenarios it is likely that these systems would be damaged. Here we present a compact and portable radiation imaging system with the ability to image high-intensity fast-neutron and gamma-ray fields simultaneously. This system has been deployed to image radiation fields emitted during the operation of a TRIGA test reactor allowing a spatial visualization of the internal reactor conditions to be obtained. The imaged flux in each case is found to scale linearly with reactor power indicating that this method may be used for power-resolved reactor monitoring and for the assay of ongoing nuclear criticalities in damaged nuclear reactors. 1 Department of Engineering, Gillow Avenue, Lancaster University, Lancaster, LA1 4YW, UK. 2 Createc Ltd., Derwent Mills Commercial Park, Cockermouth CA13 0HT, UK. 3 Atominstitut, Vienna University of Technology, 1020 Vienna, Austria. 4 Hybrid Instruments Ltd., Unit 16, ICT Centre, Birmingham Research Park, Vincent Drive, Edgbaston B15 2SQ, UK. Correspondence and requests for materials should be addressed to J.S.B. (email: [email protected]). NATURE COMMUNICATIONS | 6:8592 | DOI: 10.1038/ncomms9592 | www.nature.com/naturecommunications 1 & 2015 Macmillan Publishers Limited.